We're "Tangled" with Mandy Moore

Disney treated Kidzworld to a day at its Animation Studios in Burbank, CA, where we heard all about Tangled, the studio's upcoming animated version of the Rapunzelfairytale. We saw beautiful storyboards, learned how to animate Rapunzel's 70 feet of magical hair, saw how sound for the movie was edited and were told how characters were developed.

Courtesy of Disney

Mandy Moore is the speaking and singing voice of lead character Rapunzel and we sat down with the singer/actress in the very room at the studio
where she first met with Disney about doing the film. Lovely and funny
character drawings are still on the walls as we chat with the now dark
brown-haired Mandy who has left her bubblegum pop singer days behind in
favor of a more adult sound in music and a varied film career.

Courtesy of Lynn Barker

Let's set the scene for you. In the upcoming film, Rapunzel is turning 18 and is still locked in an isolated tower where she has lived her whole life. She was stolen as a baby and placed there by a greedy woman she has always called “Mother.” When hot and "bad boy" thief Flynn (voiced by TV's "Chuck" Zach Levi) climbs the tower to escape the authorities, it's love/hate at first sight. Rapunzel sees this fellow as her ticket out of captivity. We asked Mandy what she would do with her time if she were locked in a tower for years…

Kidzworld: If you were really stuck in a tower for years and years, what would you have with you there and do to stay sane?

Mandy:Music and writing. Maybe I would pick up something I've always
wanted to learn how to do like sew; knitting or something. Something
that would be relaxing and would help me get into a Zen state of mind
and pass the hours. Learn how to meditate. I'd have a guitar, some paper
and pens, maybe painting. That would be fun.

Kidzworld: Rapunzel has basically been grounded in a tower her whole
life. When you were a tween or teen, were you ever grounded?

Mandy:Yeah, I think I've been grounded. I wasn't a terrible kid if I do
say so myself. I wasn't a rebellious kid by any means. Sort of like
Rapunzel. I don't think she deserves the punishment and treatment she's
getting but, for me, it was definitely no TV and not having dessert, not
getting to go out with my friends. Yeah, that's grounded.

Kidzworld: What would you say to teens or kids who are always getting
grounded?

Mandy:I would say look at the reason you keep finding yourself in that
position and know that, for the most part, your parents are doing it for
the greater good. There is something to learn from the whole experience
and use that time to yourself to your advantage.

Kidzworld: Great advice. Flynn, who Rapunzel falls for, is a "bad boy" – at least on the surface. What's your history with being attracted to
"bad boys"?

Courtesy of Lynn Barker

Mandy: [laughs] I think I had my fair share who were pseudo-bad boys.
Maybe I didn't realize at first that they were bad boys but they turned
out to be but I think it turned out OK. I managed to find a good guy
[Ryan Adams, the singer/songwriter] and I'm happily married. But, yeah,
there is something about those bad boys. I don't know if it's innately
the idea of, “Maybe I'll be able to change him,” or, “Maybe that side will
subside as we get to know each other,” but, yeah, there is something
really attractive. Maybe it's the confidence they show.

Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams

Kidzworld: Rapunzel has to be preoccupied with the care of her 70 feet
of magical hair! You've changed your hair a lot over the years [she's
very pretty as a brunette now]. When you have a hair change, does that
effect the way you see yourself or does it change your personality?

Mandy Moore's Ever-Changing Hairstyles

Mandy:Maybe not so much personality-wise. However, I remember the first
time I colored my hair dark. I'd been blonde for years. I immediately
felt different. I felt that people regarded me differently and treated
me differently too. I felt I was perhaps taken a little bit more
seriously as a brunette. I feel most like myself like this but I think
it's part of the fun of being a woman; the ability to change your hair
and I think you dress a little bit differently, maybe do your make-up
differently as your hair changes too.

Kidzworld: You are now one of the Disney princesses. Who is your fave
Disney princess?

Mandy:I grew up with The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and Beauty and
the Beast but I definitely started singing because of Ariel. I remember
walking around the house and singing, like when Ursula steals her voice
and she's like [Mandy starts singing la la la...la la la…]. I remember
asking my parents, “Do I sound as pretty as she does?” That was a huge
turning point in my life.

Courtesy of Disney

Kidzworld: You have done other animated voices [The Simpsons, Brother
Bear 2, etc.] What about voicing Rapunzel was different for you?

Mandy:This was a whole different bag; the real deal. It was a lot of
work. I remember sitting in this very room the first day I
got here and it was covered in storyboards. To do a film and to go into
the adventure of making a movie like this and not have anything
necessarily concrete to look at or reference [was hard].

There was no animation to see so it was sketches or storyboards. Those
were helpful but I was depending on a lot of information from the
directors. And, you're by yourself recording. So, there is something
freeing about that; not having to be tied down to someone's delivery of
a line. You could go into the depths of your imagination. It's kind of
like being a kid again. Kind of imagining this whole world and what it
looks like and who you are and where you are and where you're going.
There was something exhausting about that because you're in your head
all day but it was fun too.

Kidzworld: So you never got to record dialogue with Zach [Levi] at all?

Zach Levi

Mandy:No. Just the music one day.

Kidzworld: So there was this huge 65 piece orchestra and composer Alan
Menken and Zach was there, too? Is that when you two recorded your duet?

Mandy:Yes. I'd never sang with a huge orchestra behind me. It was a
moment in time. I remember thinking, “Take this in, Mandy. It's a once in
a lifetime experience,” because it was just so… “Oh my God!” It would
make you melt, it was so beautiful and powerful! It was really
nerve-wracking to be in that room going, “I don't want to be the thing
that throws all of these people off. I can't mess up!”

Kidzworld: Are you still working on your music? I really liked your last
album.

Mandy:Thanks. I've started writing another record, yes.

Catch Mandy as the voice of Rapunzel November 24th in Digital 3-D!

Courtesy of Lynn Barker

Lynn Barker, an editor and entertainment journalist for several websites, magazines and newspapers, has been active in the entertainment industry for many years.